Early retirement & the Dole (Or not)

DMacs1

Hi, the Company that I work for (Multi National) allows early retirement at
63 with full works pension.
I am 62 and have told them that in May 2013 when
I am 63 I intend to retire and claim my Company pension.
I am currently in
remission from bladder cancer and my boss to her credit has asked HR in our Head
Office if I can leave even earlier through either voluntary or compulsory
redundancy.
HR have replied and said that I am eligible now to claim my
pension and if I intend to wait til I am 63 then thats fine but they wont make
me redundant as its money they dont need to spend.
BUT, now this is whats
puzzling me ..... HR says that if I want to retire early (next year) then I
have to RESIGN in order to get my pension and not just retire. Surely there has
to be something wrong here

Can anyone advise please

As a follow up to this earlier post that I made I am receiving conflicting help (or not) on my future.
I am told that even though I am taking early retirement I will have to sign on the dole and in 8 weeks I will be entitled to dole money but I will have to show that I am job hunting even though I dont want another job.
I have then been told that I DONT need to sign on as I have made the necessary amount of contributions towards my state pension that I will be eligible for in a further 2 years

Anyone help and advise please?

jem16

DMacs1 wrote: »

I have then been told that I DONT need to sign on as I have made the necessary amount of contributions towards my state pension that I will be eligible for in a further 2 years

Anyone help and advise please?

If you have 30 years NI contributions already, then you don't need to sign on unless you actually want the dole money.

philip1988

Interesting OP. I too am retiring early next year on a company pension. I will have my "30 years" but I have been told by HR that I won't be able to supplement my pension with dole money because I am receiving a pension.

Any one out there getting a pension and getting dole money?

Andy_L

The pension will wipe out some (all?) of your entitlement to Job Seekers Allowance

IIRC its cut pound for pound for any occupational pension above £50/week

Rupert_Bear

DMacs1 wrote: »

As a follow up to this earlier post that I made I am receiving conflicting help (or not) on my future.
I am told that even though I am taking early retirement I will have to sign on the dole and in 8 weeks I will be entitled to dole money but I will have to show that I am job hunting even though I dont want another job.
I have then been told that I DONT need to sign on as I have made the necessary amount of contributions towards my state pension that I will be eligible for in a further 2 years

Anyone help and advise please?

I took early retirement at 60 and thought about signing on but found out because of my two final salary pensions I would not get anything.

Also I am lead to understand I get automatic NI credits for the years leading up to 65. However I have obtained a pension forecast and only need 30 contributing year to qualify for the full state pension.

For me I just could not bothered to go out and get another job as I value my freedom too much.

atush

If you choose to retire, and so are leaving voluntarily as far as I can see you should not get anything. As you chose to leave your job and you are not looking for further work. JSA is for those out of work who are actively seeking employment. Or should be.

I think it is different if you are made redundant.

sleepless_saver

If you have your 30 years NI contributions, you don't need any more. You can check if you have enough - see this link.

It used to be that you would get Class 1 NI contributions credited automatically if you were aged 60 to 65 and not working. The lower age limit for this is changing now, in line with the increase in women's state pension age. So if your age is higher than the women's state pension age, you should get these contributions made whether or not you sign on.


If you did sign on and claim JSA (and as atush says it's for those actively seeking employment) then the first £50 a week of your occupational pension will be disregarded. Anything above that will be taken £ for £ from the JSA. So if your pension is more than £121 a week you would get no JSA.

edited to add: After your 6 month contribution based JSA entitlement, the £50 disregard ends, so any occupational pension is taken £ for £ from any income related JSA you are entitled to.

bigfreddiel

BUT, now this is whats
puzzling me ..... HR says that if I want to retire early (next year) then I
have to RESIGN in order to get my pension and not just retire. Surely there has
to be something wrong here

the above is correct - there is no retirement age anymore - so you have to resign now.

tho' i did read something last week whereby an employer can 'retire' employees under certain circumstances - can't remember much about it tho.

jamesd

DMacs1 wrote: »

I am told that even though I am taking early retirement I will have to sign on the dole and in 8 weeks I will be entitled to dole money but I will have to show that I am job hunting even though I dont want another job.

philip1988 wrote: »

Interesting OP. I too am retiring early next year on a company pension. I will have my "30 years" but I have been told by HR that I won't be able to supplement my pension with dole money because I am receiving a pension.

If you want the dole money you are required to be looking for work. It's up to you whether you want the money and job search or not. You're entitled to contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance for 26 weeks if you're looking for work.

Once the contribution-based Jobseeker's allowance ends your pensions will probably cause your income to be too high for income-related JSA. You may also have too much capital to qualify.

It's possible to have both pension income and JSA income.

Taking voluntary retirement from one job does not automatically disqualify you from receiving JSA provided you're genuinely looking for work. It does probably increase the chance that you'll be expected to regularly prove that you really are looking for work.

HR was probably assuming that you would not be interested in other work.

molerat

I was in a similar situation 3 years ago and my JSA was reduced to £25pw. I just could not be bothered with the hassle and being treated like scum by the staff for a total of £520 after tax for the 26 weeks so gave up after the first payment

custardy

I thought it was the young who couldnt be bothered to go to work